Crate unloader



Feb. 23, 1954 R- W slNKS 2,670,091

CRATE UNLOADER Filed June 50, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet l JNVENTOR.

)1 ml 55 I RUSSELL W. Sums Feb. 23, 1954 R. w. slNKs 2,670,091

CRATE UNLOADER v Filed June 50, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 faam Fig. Z

INVENToR.

Ru ss s L LW. S s

Feb. 23, 1954 R W SINKS 2,670,091

I CRATE UNLOADER Filed June 50, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 JNVENTOR.

RUSSELL W. SlNKs Feb. 23k 1954 R, W, SINKS 2,670,091

CRATE UNLOADER Filed June 30, 1950 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig. 4-

INVENTOR.

RUSSELL. W. Sm Ks Km in; MM

Feb. 23, 1954 R, W slNKs 2,670,091

CRATE UNLOADER Filed June 30, 1950 5 ShetS-Sheet 5 JNVENToR. Ru .ss nu. W. SIN Ks BYLQM MMX Patented Feb. 23, 1954 CRATE UNLOADER Russell W. Sinks, Sidney, Ohio Application June 30, 1950, Serial No. 171,317

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to a crate unloader and particularly to an unloader for crates of cans. Canned commodities are usually cooked in the cans in which they are sold. After a commodity is sealed in cans, the cans are placed in a crate and the crate in turn is placed in a boiler to cook the commodity.. After the cooking, a paper label is wrapped around each can. During the processing of the commodity, the cans are disposed haphazardly in the crate. In modern packing plants, a kcan unscrambler is used. This unscrambler rights all the cans so that they lie or set uniformly for delivery to the can labeling machine. The present invention is primarily directed to a machine for inverting the crate containing the cans and for limiting the flow of cans from the inverted crate to such rate that theunloading is synchronized to the capacity of the can unscrambling machine.

In carrying out the present invention, there is provided a main frame which forms a station for receiving open top crates of cans. The main frame includes a crate carrying frame which is movable over the receiving station and has means for engaging the crates to lift the same. The crate canning frame includes a door for closing the open top of the crate. Mechanism is provided for moving the crate carrying frame, with the crate attached, and for inverting the carrying frame and the crate. Mechanism is also provided for slowly opening the door, when the carrying frame and crate are inverted, whereby the rate of flow of cans from the crate is controlled.

= A conveyor, in the form of an endless belt, receives the cans, which are unloaded from the crate, and conveys them to the can unscrambling machine. This conveyor is disposed below the crate. A slide for the cans is disposed below the crate and above the conveyor and is moved along the bottom of the crate as the door, for the crate, is being opened.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of embodiment of the invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is va front view of the crate unloader, showing the position of the` crate in the receiving station and showing the'crate carrying frame in position to lift the crate; f

Fig. 2 is an end view looking in the direction of arrow 2 in Fig. 1; v

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view/,similar to Fig. l,

but partly in section and showing the carrying l frame and crate carried thereby in a position midway of the receiving and unloading stations;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view, similar to Fig. 1, but partly in section and showing the carrying frame and crate at the unloading station, and showing the door for the crate in closed position; parts of the machine are shown in section;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the door partly open;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view, on a larger scale, the section being taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view, on the same scale as Fig. 6, the section being taken on line 1 1 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a view, on the same scale as Fig. 6, looking in the direction of arrows 8 8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view, on the same scale as Fig. 6, the section being taken on line 9 9 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, the view being taken on line |0 |0 ofFig. 5.

Referring generally to the drawings, there is shown a main frame 20 which includes a base 2| and oppositely disposed uprights 22, secured to and extending upwardly, the latter being secured to the base and extending upwardly substantially centrally of the base, as viewed in Fig. 1. These uprights 22 are braced by the diagonally disposed braces 24, which in turn are braced by diagonally disposed braces 25.

The space to the left of uprights 22 and above the base 2| will be referred to as a receiving station 21. A plurality of rearwardly extending tracks 28, as viewed in Fig. l, are carried by the base 2| in the receiving station 21. A crate truck 29 is guided by the tracks 28. The truck 29 carries downwardly extending brackets 30 which in turn support rollers 3| which ride within the tracks 28. This truck is for the purpose of delivering crates to the receiving station 21. One of the crates 33 is shown in the receiving station.

A crate carrying frame 35 is pivotally, mounted on a shaft 36 carried by the posts 22 and braces 24. This crate carrying frame 35 is arranged to be moved substantially that is from they position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 4. The upper part of the frame 35 is opened so that when the crate is delivered to the position shown in Fig. 4 i. ke. in its inverted position, the cans contained in the crate may fall by gravity out of the crate onto an endless belt 38. Belt 38 is mounted on rollers 39 and rotates in a clockwise direction,r as viewed in Fig. 4.` At

the right end of the endless belt 38 there is provided a slide 4| extending downwardly and to the right, over which the cans slide to another endless conveyor 42 for delivery of the can to an unscrambling machine (not shown). The rollers 33 are generally horizontally disposed with respect to one another and are carried on a trarne work 44. IThis frame work 44 is suitably attached to the braces il et lait end and by braces lli at the right The braces 45 are connected to the base 2|. The endless belt is preferably driven by an electric motor 43. geared to the shaft 41 of the right roller 39 by pulley and belt connection, the belt being shown at 48,. The bearings for shafts 4l are shown at 49.

A door 50 preferably of the exible'and sliding type is carried by the upper end,A ci the frame 35, as viewed in Fig. l, and it is arranged to pre` vent the spilling of the cans from the crate while the crate is being moved trom the position shown in Fig. l to the position shown in Fig. 4. After thev crate is moved to the position shown in Fig. 4, the door- 50 is moved slowly to the left at such rate that the cans fall from the crate at a rate substantially` equal to the rate at which the can unserambling machine can right the cans.

` A-slide 5| is positioned adjacent the right end of thedoor- 50, as viewed in Eig. 4, and it is interposed between the bottom of the c rate and the conveyor belt 38 to impede the descent of the cans frqm'the crate to'the belt 38. This slide 5| is moved to the left as the door 50 is being epened, i. e. being meved to the left.

Referring more in detail to the drawings. the crate earrying frame ineludes a frame work 53. This frame w'ork includes, as viewed in Fig. l, a left front post 54,` a right Vfront post 55 which arconnected at the topf by a strip of metal 53. Similar posts'l and twarel disposed rearwardly ressctively, of. the poste 5l alle 55- A rearwardly etendingahgle Hiron 50 connects feront posts lilll with rear posts 5,? a'i'rearwardly' enteridirig agieren 'il gerissen the betere-.bf flnt posi i5. with. reel' cosi $8-, A. rearwardly extending.

angle iron connects ills upper peri f rest. f

Svtli'nestfl gli@ @rearwardly extensies angle liso @.3 @collecte the weer mit el; rests .Si Willi' reci @este 5.?. e. reetaeslilerlv Stancanelli@ i is.. Siilta'blr secures to? el@ gener parte 9i pests is 55, 51 and 58, as viewed in Fig. 1*. This gram@ smerige@ with a. el, kler- Qeeeios si ef. slightly les diameter than @eternel diameter Qi the. @rale 3.3... Ball brackets. i, carrying the bail, 0f lle, crei.. I ad. Die@ t@ resti une@ the ledge.

1? tiene' 65v vaccine este 'e inverted as.. Shown l 'Referring again to. Fig: l it will be Sees that there is. Provided ivo brackets. l! and T21 'These brackets @steed fearweldly- .Bracket lil is, Seell. te'tlie lgivelf sel-"tige cf pests 54 and. lil enflbracket 'l2 is supported by posts 55 and 58. rllhese brckets'provide shelves 'I3 and 14 which are arranged to engage the underside or bottom 'i5 of @rat 33. when the frame S5 swung about. pivot 6.3mm the, spellen.. Shave in Fig.. l- Limit blocks Il and 'i8 limit the counter-clockwise movementgi the carrier frame 3,5. It will be, ob- Sved that Wh'n theflegle 3.5 is irl. its lowermofft. positiontlje top gf the shelves'n and i4- ne in lewer pleno than the upper plane of the truck 2,3 Aso as to providea clearanc )etween` the b ottomfofwthe'crate 33 and theA shelves I3 and 'i4 when the truck is being moved for insertinger removing a crate. 'A t each, the extreme front and the extreme rear, uthe carrier frame includes a (ill U shape frame including downwardly extending legs 8| and 82 and connecting yoke portion 83. These legs 8| and 82 and yoke 83 are suitably secured to the left, right and top sides of frame work 53, as viewed in Fig. 1. The upper right hand portion of each of these frames 80 carries a collar 84 which in turn is secured to the shaft 36.

The scafi 36. erlends. @merely 0i the from frame 8,0 and rearwardly of; the rear frame 80 and a segment gear 83 is secured to the front end of the shaft 36 and a similar gear 83 is secured to the rear end of the shaft 3S. These gears 35i are each rotated by racks 81 which are Aactuated by the plungers 88 of hydraulic jacks 88. The cylinders 90 of the hydraulic jacks 8S are each connegtedby-pivot pin 9| to the brace 25.

A roller 33 is interposed between the rear of the rack'B'- and the plunger for holding the rack 8l in operative relationship with the gear 86. The rollers may be carriedby the post 22. When hydraulic iluid is admitted to the lower ends oithe cylinders 90 through the pipes 95, the plungers 83 will be'extended causing a clockwise motion te be imparted to the gears 83 which in turn will cause clockwise motion to be imparted to the crate earryingframe 35. The frame upon rotat-v ing in a clockwise direction, from the position shown in Fig. l, will cause the shelves 13 and 14 teliit the crate on oi the truck. The frame 35 and the c r-ate carried thereby is moved from the. position shown in Fig. 1 to thelposi-tion show-n i`n Fig. 4 by one complete stroke of the hydraulic jacks'. (obviously, to return the frame=35 and the crate from the position shown in Fig: 4 to the position shown Fig.. i, hydraulic fluid will be admitted through the' pipes 91 to force the plunger 88 inwardli'the Huid' within the cylinder 98, at this time flowing from the cylinder through the pipe 95. M A

' 'Anyform of iieiiible door 50 may be employed. However, 1 prefer to use the form shownin Fig.` le, comprising a pidralityei paraliell'y arranged U shaped strips lig'each" of which includes t'wq legs |00 and a yoke portion |0|. These yoke portions are preferably nat and each is suitably secured to rubber'belting material |03. The strips 3 9 are suitably spaced fiom one another byspacer's |04, 'which latter' are 'suitably welded as et stgod that 'the spacersy |04 off one strip are not mechanically or therwise connected with the leg |00 of the ne'xt adjacent strip. Suitable bearings may be carried by some er each of the strips 00. These bearings are shown as |00 which is Welded to the underside of the yoke |0| of the strip 90. The bearings |08 are for the shafts of rollers |08.

It is to be-understood that these bearings and rollers are disposed at the from:7 and rear (as viewed in Figsfll andv 5) of the door. These roll` ers ride and are guided by front and rear tracks |09. rI Uhe tracks are formed of U-shaped metal which is suitably secured to the crate carry-A ing frame 35. The tracks |09 lie parallel with the frame 65 throughout the width of the v frame work 53 and then are curved in the form of'an arch as shown at 0.

The extreme rightend off the door 50 is provided with front andrearsookets I3 wllich are arranged to si'fraddlezaJ bar ||4 when the crate carrying frame 35 is moved to the position shown in Fig. `4. This bar-`||4 isutilized to push the door 50 to the left to open the. same and pulflthe doos 50 to theright'tol'close' the same.

aardbei It will be observed that when the crate *carrying frame 35 `is in the position shown in Fig. 4, the then lower part of the frame work 53 lies between a front'wall and a rear wall ||6. These walls ||6 are secured respectively' to the front and rear portions of frame work 44 and form side walls of a bin I1, the lower wall of the bin being formed by the belt 38 and the slide 4|.

Each of these walls ||6 provides a horizontally extending track ||8 disposed between the frame work 53 and the belt 38. These tracks ||8 guide rollers |2| carried by a shaft |22. The underside of each of the tracks ||8 carry a stationary` rack |23, the teeth of which extend downwardly for cooperation with gears |24. 'Ihe front gear |24 is disposed forwardly of the front Wall while the rear gear is disposed rearwardly of the rear wall IIS. These gears are secured to a rotating shaft |26, which' latter is driven 'by a pinion |21 secured thereto. Pinion |21 is rotated by a re' ciprocating rack |28, and this rack is attached to the outer end of a plunger |29 of a hydraulic jack |30. rThe lower end of the cylinder |3| of the hydraulic jack is pivoted at |32 ,to a bracket| 4|33 carried by braces 24 and 45. The shafts |22 and |26 extend rearwardly and are supported by a carriage |35. Bar ||4 is also carried by the carriage.

The horizontal movement of the carriage |35 is lutilized for opening and closing the door 50.

Horizontal movement of the carriage |35 is imparted by the hydraulic jack |30, the rollers |2| being guided in the tracks ||8.

Let us assume that the door 50 is closed, as shown in Fig. 4 and that the socket ||3 spans the bar |4 of the carriage |35, at whichtime the hydraulic jack will be in extended plunger position and will be at its extreme right position. Now when the plunger |29 is retracted by injecting hydraulic liquid into the upper part of the cylinder |3| through the pipe |31 and permitting the escape of hydraulic fluid through pipe |38, the pinion |21 and the shaft |26 and the gears |24 will be rotated in a clockwise direction, causing these elements to move to the left, by reason of the meshing of gears |24 with the rack |23. The shaft |26 being journaled in the carriage |35 will cause the carriage |35 and bar I4 thereof to be moved to the left. The bar ||4 acting on the door 50 will cause the door 50 to be moved to the left whereby the cans can fall from the crate 33. After the door 50 has moved to the left sufficiently to completely uncover the opening 63 in the frame 65, the door opening movement is stopped. Thev ratio of the gearing and the stroke of the hydraulic'jack |30 is such that sufficient movement of the door is assured by a complete stroke of the hydraulic jack. y After the crate is emptied, the action of the track |30 is reversed i. e. uid is admitted through the pipe |38 and permitted to escape through the pipe |31 whereby the plunger will be moved outwardly to return the carriage |35 to the position shown in Fig. 4.

It will be observed that the heretofore men-v tioned slide for the cans is part of the car-- riage |35 and therefore-moved to theleft as the door is being opened. Thus one mechanism is employed for actuating the door andj formoving the can slide.. i i Referring to Fig.'9 it will be 'seen that'a float-.- ing arm |40 is carried by the-shaft |20. This arm carries a roller |4| which is arranged to. en-

gage `thefrack '|20' .on-. the side thereof opposite the'teeth to -hold the rack |28 and the' pinion' |21l in meshing relation.

' Referring to Fig. 2, it will be observed-that the truck rails or .tracks 28 extend on opposite sides of the receiving station 21v whereby the crates can be placed on or removed from thetruck from either side of the receiving station; Any suitable mechanism may be employed for moving the truck but I prefer to use .hydraulic mechanism, one form of which is shown in Fig. 2 wherein a rack |43 is carried on the bottom side of the truck. This rack is and consequently the truck is moved horizontally by the rotation of a pinion |44 carried by a rotating shaft |45. The shaft |45 is drivenby a pinion |46 'which is rotated by a rack |41," The rack |41 is actuated by a plunger |48 of the hydraulic jack |43, the cylinder of which is shown at |50. A roller |52 is suitably carriedv by the base 2| and holds the rack |41 'and pinion in operative'relation with one another. It will be understood that the shaft |45 is suitablyv journaled in bearings carried by the base 2|. Y

The operation of the machine is as follows: A crate is removed from the conveyor which leads from the cooker andV is Aplaced upon the crate truck, for example on the right of the receiving station 21, as viewed in Fig. 2. The hydraulic jack |49 is then actuated for causing the crate truck to move tothe left to bring the crate 33 in proper ,position in the receiving station 21. At this time the crate carrier frame 35 is in a position shown in Fig. l and the carriage |35, for moving door 50, isin the position as shown in Fig. 1. The jacks 89 are then actuated to swing the frame 35 to the position shown in Fig. 4. The notches ||3 of thev door 50 will slide over the bar |4. At this time the crate 33 is in an inverted position and the cans therein are being supported by the door 50. Thejack |30 is then actuated to move the carriage |35 to the left. This causes the door 50 to slide to the left slowly uncovering thev opening 00 in the frame 05 and the cans will slide over the slide 5| `onto the clockwise moving belt 38. When the cans reach the right end of the belt`38 they will slide over the slide 4|-onto another conveyor leading to a can unscrambling machine. The speed of operation of the jack |30 is such that the rate of ow of the cans from the crate 33 is synchronized with the rate at which the unscrambling machine can right the cans. After a full stroke of the plunger |29'of the jack |30, the door 50 will be opened to its fullest extent whereby all cans will have fallen from the crate 33. After the crate is emptied, the jack |30 is actuated in the opposite direction causing the vcarriage 35 to close the door 50. After the door 50 is closed, the jacks 89 are actuated to retract the plunger 88 which causes the crate carrying frame 35 to be moved from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 1'. When in the position of Fig. l, the empty crate will again rest upon the truck free of the shelves 13 and 14. The truck can then 'be moved along the'track by the hydraulic Ymechanism and a filled crate brought into the receiving station 21.

, the stations on opposite sides of the machine or loadingstation 21 can be used either as loading yorv unloading stations or both. For example, i-f

vthe space on the right is used merely as a loading station, during the period of time Ythat the cans Iare ,being .emptied,the;cra.te truck; is retracked said door is progressively moved across the open top of an inverted crate to controllably discharge cans from the crate to the conveyor; and an inclined ramp mounted on said carriage and extending from the conveyor to an edge of said door.

6. Apparatus for unloading a crate of cans, comprising in combination with a main frame having a station for receiving a crate; a crate carrier frame moveable over the station and having means for engaging the crate for lifting the crate; a door carried by the crate carrier frame for covering the open top of the crate; a latching element carried by the door at one edge thereof; means for moving the crate carrier frame from the station and for inverting the carrier frame, said carrier frame having means for holding the crate in inverted position; a conveyor below the frame for receiving the cans from the crate as the door is opened; tracks for slideably mounting said door to the crate carrying frame; a second pair of tracks carried by the main frame and positioned parallel to and below the tracks for the door; a. carriage moveably carried by said 10 second pair of tracks; a second latching element mounted on the carriage to engage With said rst mentioned latching element carried by the door when the crate carrier frame is in the inverted position; and means for moving the carriage and the door in their respective tracks so that said door is progressively moved across the open top of an inverted crate to controllably discharg cans from the crate to the conveyor. 1 RUSSELL W. SINKS.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 418,525 Lindsley et al Dec. 31, 1889 843,056 Young Feb. 5, 1907 1,666,908 Moore Apr. 24, 1928 n 1,924,419 Sinden Aug. 29, 1933 1,973,767 Kimball et al Sept. 18, 1934 2,062,503 Case Dec. l, 1936 2,268,220 Marshall Dec. 30, 1941 2,321,300 leagy June 8, 1943 2,459,204 Van Vleck Jan. 18, 1949 

